Baba Harbhajan Singh : The Heroic Soldier/Saint

In the land of the Himalayas, close to the Indo - China border, about a half hour short drive from the famous Tsomgo Lake, lies the temple of Baba Harbhajan Singh, the hero of Nathula Pass. A must visit if you visit Nathula Pass and Tsomgo Lake. Every tourist who visits makes a point to stop at the shrine. It is about 3 - 4 hours drive from the city of Gangtok, depending on the weather. Today, have a read on the really mystical story of the soldier who never died.

Baba Harbhajan Singh, ranked Late Sepoy Harbhajan Singh was a soldier in the Indian Army positioned on the India - China border. One day, in the year of 1968, while escorting a herd of mules, he slipped and fell in a stream and passed away. After missing for 3 days, the army called him a Deserter. Couple of days later, a fellow army officer in his sleep gets a dream where Harbhajan Singh guides him to the place where his body and all his ammunition were. The following morning, the army man visits the place and in his shock, Harbhajan Singh’s body and ammunition were present. In the following weeks, other soldiers get dreams as Harbhajan Singh guides them to build a shrine. The army does so at a place 9 kms away from the present shrine. So the army started to worship him and named him as Baba Harbhajan Singh (Saint). It is said that Baba Harbhajan Singh comes into the dreams of the officials in advance if China decides to ambush or start a war and those dreams are always true. So, the Indian Army and the Chinese Army worship him and both India and China have statues of him. Till this day, there has never been any wars, ambush or retaliations. If any army officer even catches a few winks of sleep at duty, they get a tight slap as if Baba slapped them. The army promoted him to Captain. He receives both a salary as well as a pension. Every army convoy has one seat empty, which is reserved for the Baba. Every year, his bags are packed and sent to Kapurthala by trains. 2 army officers take his belongings with him. The army sanctions this leave and the Indian Railways always allot a berth for him. During tensions along the border, his leave was cancelled as well. When he is on leave, the border force has to be on high alert. Baba Harbhajan Singh retired in December of 2006.

Baba’s shrine is maintained by the army. His uniform and his shoes are cleaned daily. The army would often find dirt on the uniform and muck below his shoes. They would also see that his bed had wrinkles on the sheets as someone slept on it. He is given daily meals. His room has all amenities because it is believed that his spirit guards the border. His shrine’s water is said to have healing qualities so devotees leave with bottles of water from his shrine. In essence, it is believed that Baba Harbhajan Singh guards the border so that the citizens of the state can sleep in peace. It is a fact but whether to believe in it or not is a different story. In all, because of him, we never had to worry about any impending attacks. Baba Harbhajan Singh, a true legend.

Fin.

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